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With more than 140 degrees to choose from, UALR offers its students the opportunity to learn from top-ranked faculty and provides invaluable internship opportunities in several in-demand career fields.

Transfer Student Services

Office of Transfer Student Services

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock welcomes transfer students and is committed to making their transition to campus and transfer of credit a smooth process. The Office of Transfer Student Services (OTSS) was established in April 2009 to expedite the articulation of general education core transfer credit, and provide dynamic student service to meet the transfer credit evaluation needs of prospective and new UALR transfer students. Our main goal is to make transferring to UALR easier for students to accomplish and the transfer process easier to understand. We provide a friendly starting place for transfer students to connect with essential information and resources.

Definitions of Transfer Students for Admission/Financial Aid Eligibility

For admission and eligibility for financial aid, UALR defines types of transfer students according to the number of hours they have previously earned and their intention to earn a degree either with UALR or with another college or university.

Transfer students have previously attended another post-secondary institution and have at least 12 transferable college-level credit hours and a grade point average of 2.00 on all previous college work (See Transferring Credit to UALR). Transfer students intend to earn an academic degree at UALR, even though they may be in the process of earning an associateâ€™s degree at another college when they apply for admission to UALR.

(See Office of Admissions section of this undergraduate catalog or visit ualr.edu/admissions/ for information on current credentials required for the admission of transfer students to UALR.)

Previously enrolled UALR students who have attended another institution since attending UALR must submit an admission application and request that an official transcript be mailed directly to UALR Office of Admissions from any other institution(s) attended.

Freshman transfer students have previously attended another post-secondary institution and have less than 12 transferable college credit hours earned after high school (See Transferring Credit to UALR). Freshman Transfer students intend to earn an academic degree at UALR, but have not completed the equivalent of one, full-time semesterâ€™s enrollment at another college or university.

(See Office of Admissions section of this undergraduate catalog or visit their website for information on current credentials required for the admission of transfer students to UALR.)

Visiting students previously or currently attend another post-secondary institution and plan to transfer credits earned at UALR back to that college or university to apply toward a certificate or degree.

Visiting status is limited to one semester. Further enrollment in this status is not permitted unless the student has returned to his or her original institution or has attended another institution before returning to UALR. Students in this category are not eligible for federal financial aid.

(See Office of Admissions section of this undergraduate catalog or visit their website for information on current credentials required for the admission of transfer students to UALR.)

Provisional Admission of Transfer Students

Transfer students who have not submitted all credentials necessary for admission by the credential deadline may be admitted provisionally provided that the unofficial documents support admissibility. In such cases, the student is admitted with the provision that she/he submit the missing admission credentials by the end of the term during which provisional admission was granted. Transfer work will be evaluated upon receipt of all required official academic transcripts. If evaluation of the final academic transcript shows that the provisionally admitted student does not meet UALRâ€™s minimum admission requirements, the student will be immediately placed on academic probation. Students granted provisional admission who do not submit the missing credentials by the end of their first enrolled term will not be permitted to enroll in subsequent terms until the admission requirements have been satisfied. Students admitted provisionally may not be changed to non-degree seeking student status.

IMPORTANT NOTE: UALR cannot accurately evaluate transfer hours, advise, release financial aid funding for which students may be eligible, or guarantee registration in degree appropriate courses until ALL final admission credentials have been received and processed. Students may receive an unofficial evaluation of general core curriculum transfer credits prior to admission to UALR by requesting an evaluation from the Office of Transfer Students Services (OTSS) online. Unofficial evaluations require submission of transcripts to OTSS.

Transferring Credit to UALR

Credit can be transferred to UALR in a variety of ways, but please be aware that UALR does not accept the following types of credits:

Remedial/developmental/study skill courses. (These course(s) are posted to the UALR transcript but no credit hours are transferred.)

Courses marked â€śin progress.â€ť

Courses from post-secondary institutions which do not have accredited or candidacy status in a regional accrediting association. (See Accreditation Requirements for details.)

Earlier attempts of a course repeated at a transfer college or university (for courses not otherwise designated as repeatable courses). Only the credit hours earned on latest attempted course will transfer.

Transfer Credit Policies

Only credit hours earned at other regionally accredited institutions will transfer and be posted on the UALR transcript. Grades and GPA do not transfer and are not calculated in the studentâ€™s GPA earned at UALR. However, all grades from all prior post-secondary institutions are calculated for the purpose of awarding graduation honors.

D Transfer Policy: Only courses with grades of C or greater will transfer automatically; however, a student may request to transfer as many as 6 credit hours with a grade of D from any regionally accredited college or university. Credit for the hours will be accepted as transfer credit if the course satisfies a degree program requirement and if a student would be allowed to earn a grade of D if the class were offered at UALR. A student may take advantage of this policy at any time prior to the awarding of an undergraduate degree. For more information on the transfer of D grades, please see UALR Policy 501.10.

Limitations on Transfer Credit: There is no limit on the amount of credits that a student may transfer to UALR, but students graduating with four-year degrees (baccalaureate) must earn 30 hours in residence at UALR. Students graduating with two-year degrees (associate) must earn 15 hours of credit in residence at UALR. Please note that some degree programs may have restrictions on the number of upper-level courses that may be used to satisfy major or minor program requirements. For certain degree programs, some credits may not be applied to satisfy a degree requirement due to when the course was earned or content changes over time.

Transfer Students and Undergraduate Catalog Choice: Transfer Students may choose to follow requirements of an older undergraduate catalog of requirements at UALR. A student transferring to UALR from regionally accredited four-year institutions, community colleges, or junior colleges with 13 or more hours of accepted credit may graduate under the provisions of a UALR Undergraduate Catalog in effect during any semester of the previous five years in which they were enrolled at the other institution. Note: At no time may a student follow the provisions of a UALR Undergraduate Catalog that is more than five years old at the time of the studentâ€™s entry into UALR.

Transfer Students and the First-year Composition Requirement: Students transferring 60 or more hours to UALR who have met the first-year composition requirement at the higher learning institution(s) previously attended may be exempted from UALRâ€™s first-year composition requirement. The decision to exempt a student from this requirement is made by the studentâ€™s major department chairperson when the student files a degree plan.

Accreditation Requirements

UALR recognizes academic credits earned at other regionally accredited post-secondary institutions. Regional accreditation means that an institution of higher learning is accredited by one of the six regionally stipulated accreditation agencies approved by the U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education accreditation (CHEA), including: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Higher Education, New England Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, North Central Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges Commission on Colleges, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and Western Association of Colleges and Schools Accrediting Commission.

Transcripts from institutions not accredited by the regional accrediting associations will be handled at the discretion of the Registrar. Students presenting such transcripts may appeal for consideration of credit transfer to the Registrar. Only official transcripts including complete records of the courses taken and sent to UALR by the institution(s) attended will be accepted for evaluation. The Registrar may also request that a course description or syllabus be presented.

Transferring Core or General Education Courses

As a public institution, UALR participates in the Arkansas State Minimum Core Curriculum agreement, which allows students to transfer up to 35 hours of general education core courses among Arkansas institutions. Students transferring to or from UALR and another publicly supported Arkansas college or university are encouraged to check with their advisors and the Office of Transfer Student Services to assure proper transfer of core or general education courses.

UALR also participates in the Arkansas Course Transfer System (ACTS) maintained by the Arkansas Dept. of Higher Education. ACTS contains information about the transferability of courses within Arkansas public colleges and universities. Students are guaranteed the transfer of applicable credits and equitable treatment in the application of credits for admissions and degree requirements. Students may complete specified General Education courses anywhere in the public system as well as many courses in the degree/major that have been pre-identified for transfer.

Transferring Associate Degrees

In-State Public Associate Degrees Designated for Transfer under ACT 182 of 2009

Students entering the University with an associate of arts, associate of science, or associate of arts in teaching degree that is from an Arkansas college or university, earned after January 2010 and designated for transfer in accordance with ACT 182 of 2009, meet the UALR core requirements. Students transferring to UALR with such degrees are not required to take additional lower-level general education courses except under the following conditions:

As a prerequisite for courses in the transfer studentâ€™s baccalaureate degree program.

A discipline-specific course that is required by the studentâ€™s baccalaureate degree program and that the student has not completed at the two-year public institution of higher education.

A requirement of an independent licensing or accrediting body.

Students entering UALR with an associate of arts or associate of science degree from a public Arkansas college or university that is not designated for transfer in accordance with ACT 182 of 2009 and students transferring associate of arts or associate of science degrees from in-state private and/or out-of-state colleges or universities are subject to the transfer policy indicated in the following section (See Transferring All Other Associate Degrees). Students with questions about the transferability of previously earned associateâ€™s degrees are invited to contact the Office of Transfer Student Services for clarification.

Associate of Applied Science Degrees

Associate of applied science degrees are handled on a course-by-course basis for application toward meeting degree program requirements.

Transferring all other Associate Degrees

Students entering the University with an associate degree that is not designated as a transferable degree under Act 182 (see section In-State Public Associate Degrees Designated for Transfer under ACT 182 of 2009 above) and that is not an associate of applied science (see section Associate of Applied Science Degrees above) will demonstrate their degree came from a regionally accredited college or university and includes the following:

3 hours of college algebra or college mathematics, or higher mathematics course
6 hours of English composition
9 to 15 hours of social science including a 3-hour course on U.S. history or U.S. government
8 hours of lab science
6 to 12 hours of arts and humanities, and
0 to 3 hours of speech

Such a degree will satisfy UALRâ€™s core requirements. Students who have an associate degree of at least 60 hours and are missing some of this distribution of courses will be required only to add the courses they are missing. Students with questions about the transferability of previously earned associateâ€™s degrees are invited to contact the Office of Transfer Student Services for clarification.

Special Transfer Credit

Transferring Credit by Examination

Students who take CLEP, AP, DANTES, International Baccalaureate, and Excelsior College Examinations must have official score reports sent directly to the UALR Office of Testing Services for evaluation. Credit obtained through examination is recorded as approved hours on the studentâ€™s official transcript without grade or grade. Additional information may be obtained from Testing Services by calling (501) 569-3198 or on their website.

Transferring Military Service Credit

In 2008, the Faculty Senate by unanimous vote approved accepting military credit certified by ACE as equivalent to college level courses for transfer to UALR. Official transcripts must be provided for evaluation and should be requested based on the branch of service (Joint Services Transcript). Military transcripts should be submitted to UALRâ€™s Office of Admission, which after document imaging will forward on to Kathy Oliverio, military ombudsman, to evaluate for the awarding of potential academic credit. For additional information concerning this process, please contact Kathy Oliverio at kmoliverio@ualr.edu or (501) 569-3204. Please note that UALR does not automatically transfer military credits based on evaluations by other universities.

Transferring Technical and/or Vocational Credit

UALR does not automatically transfer technical and/or vocational credits from other universities. Students with technical and/or vocational credits who would like this credit considered for application toward a specific degree program may consult with their departmental advisor after officially declaring a major. Any transfer of technical and/or vocational credit requires the signature of a departmental advisor on a Request to Receive Credit for Technical and/or Military Credit form to be submitted to the Office of Records and Registration for processing.

Transferring International Credit

Students who have earned college level credit at an international college or university should submit officially evaluated post-secondary school transcripts to the Office of Admissions (If obtained from a foreign institution, transcripts must be evaluated and translated by one of NACES approved agencies (naces.org) with a document by document/course by course evaluation). International transfer students must meet additional admission requirements as detailed in the Office of Admissions portion of this catalog.

Any applicant for whom English is not the first language must furnish or demonstrate proof of English language proficiency before starting classes at UALR. For detailed information concerning these requirements, please contact the Office of Admissions.

After international transfer credits are verified and posted to the UALR transcript, and once all admission credentials have been received and processed, the studentâ€™s file will be forwarded to the Office of Transfer Student Services to evaluate the application of transfer credits toward core curriculum requirements in the studentâ€™s academic major (or intended major). In order for international transfer credits to be articulated, the student must provide English translations of course descriptions to the Office of Transfer Student Services.

Students with international transfer credit must submit all required documentation by the credential deadline (See ualr.edu/admissions/ for details). International Students are not admitted on academic probation.

Transferring Occupational Programs Credit

UALR will accept up to 16 hours of lower level undesignated elective credit for occupational programs from accredited institutions. Students to whom this might apply should consult with their major degree program advisor to see if this is an option for them, and submit transcripts to the Office of Records and Registration (501) 569-3110. An evaluation of credit will not be made until after a student is enrolled at UALR.

Transferring Credit after Enrollment at UALR

UALR students may choose to enroll at another regionally accredited academic institution while attending or intending to return to UALR as a degree-seeking student. In order to assure that the credit received elsewhere meets UALR degree program requirements, students are strongly advised to consult with their academic advisor (if declared majors) or if they intend to take core curriculum courses at another college or university before the declaration of a major, students should consult with the Office of Transfer Student Services at (501) 682-1273. International students should always consult with the Office of International Student Services before taking any courses offered by an institution other than UALR after they have enrolled at UALR.

Application of Transfer Credit to Degree Program Requirements

Transfer students must be academically advised before registering for classes. Students who are undecided on a major are advised in the Office of Undergraduate Academic Advising. Students who have decided on a major should make an appointment with an advisor in the academic department offering the major.

Final transfer credit articulation (the process of determining course equivalencies and application of transferred courses toward meeting degree program requirements) will only occur after students are admitted to UALR and their final prior academic credits have been posted to the UALR transcript. Because transfer credit articulation impacts course placement and registration, transfer students with a provisional admission status may need registration overrides into core, major, or minor courses during the first semester on campus. The process of transfer credit articulation may take several weeks at minimum to process after a student has been fully admitted to UALR.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If a particular institution of higher learning does not appear in this guide, it does not mean that UALR will not accept course work from that institution. Also, if an institution appears in the guide, but the particular course you are seeking is only listed as being accepted for general elective credit, please consult further with your academic advisor. One often misunderstood point is that a given course may be accepted toward the total hours required for a degree at UALR, but may not be accepted as meeting a specific course requirement for the core curriculum or for a major or minor.